Free Not Second Best by Christa Maurice Page A

husband material.
    “Tessa.” Brett stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. She never should have left her back open like that. “Tessa, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I can fix it.”
    She turned, pulling out of his grasp, and remembered why she didn’t want to face him. His pained, bewildered expression twisted the knife in her chest. She had to push him away for his own good, but why did it have to hurt so much? For both their sakes, she needed to forge ahead. “There’s nothing to fix, Brett. It was a purely carnal relationship. I’m sorry if you thought there was more. And if that was the case, that’s exactly why we need to just stop before it gets harder for you.” Maybe there was hope for her to be a trial lawyer yet.
    “You know what? You’re one of the hottest women I’ve ever been with, but you’re like the Grinch. You have no heart.”
    “The Grinch’s heart was two sizes too small.”
    “Whatever. If I walk out that door, you’ll never see me again.”
    “Okay.” She shrugged, trying to communicate that she didn’t care. Screw trial lawyer, she should go into acting.
    Brett was never going to be an actor. He looked like she’d just rattled him to his soul. He straightened. “Okay. See ya.” He walked out.
    Tessa kept her feet until she heard him say a cheery goodbye to Jody at the desk. Maybe he could be an actor after all.
    Or maybe he’d just realized what a gift she’d given him, sending him away before things got really sticky. Before she ended up like Bonnie, only older and without the kids.
    Dear God, she wasn’t feeling sorry for Bonnie, was she?
    She sank onto the couch and stared out the window. Still, there were far too many reasons not to get involved with him. His youth and immaturity. Her age and ticking biological clock. The fact he was going to leave anyway. The only men in her life who stuck around were Jason and Sandy. Her father, her boyfriends, her brothers-in-law...they’d all left. What she needed was a sperm donor so she could have a baby without the inconvenience of a man hanging around. Or do what Candy had done and adopt a couple of Chinese orphans. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about a man turning up years from now to see how well his boys could swim.
    Through the window, Brett stalked out the front door of the building, kicked the front passenger-side tire of his car on the way past, climbed in, and peeled out. At almost the same moment, Sandy appeared in her doorway.
    “Hi,” he said.
    “Hello. Did you need something?” Her voice sounded remarkably normal for someone who felt as if she’d been ripped to shreds.
    Sandy stepped in and closed the door behind him before he crossed the room to sit down on the couch across from her. That was it. Monday morning she was having the fucking thing taken off the hinges. “Brian looks good.”
    “Great.”
    “He had some questions for you?”
    “Just wanted my thoughts about his custody agreement.”
    Sandy nodded. “I thought something like that might happen. She’s a natural mom, Suzi. Very mature for her age.”
    “Yes, very. How come you never had kids, Sandy?”
    Sandy shook his head. “We wanted to wait and then Ellen got sick and died and I took early retirement to manage the boys. Kinda feels like I do have kids most days with the boys. And you.”
    She wanted to protest, but couldn’t. It was too true.
    “Brett was here too,” Sandy said.
    The force and intensity of her tears shocked her. One moment she’d been thinking about calling Candy for tips on adopting from overseas and the next she’d dissolved into a hail of misery.
    “There, there, sweetheart. These things have a way of working out for the best.” He pulled her head into his lap and stroked her hair. “It’ll be alright. I promise.”
    All Tessa could feel was the hollow space between her arms and in her chest. If she had no heart, how did she know it was missing?
    * * * *
    Brett slammed through his